So what exactly are yearly deficits?
The deficit is the part we borrow.
Borrowed money. Mostly. "Quantitative easing" is when the Government borrows from the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve buys US Federal Government Debt and gives the Federal Government cash in return. It was a policy that began under Obama, but should be outlawed. It is "Just printing money" with the promise to pay it back, basically a promise to raise enough in taxes and legitimate borrowing to take the magic quantatatively easy money out of circulation.